Culture of Oral Mucosal Epithelial Cells for the Purpose of Treating Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency.

The cornea is critical for normal vision as it allows allowing light transmission to the retina. The corneal epithelium is renewed by limbal epithelial cells (LEC), which are located in the periphery of the cornea, the limbus. Damage or disease involving LEC may lead to various clinical presentations of limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).

The effect of hypoxia on the formation of mouse incisor enamel.

Objective: The permanently growing mouse incisors exhibit all stages of tooth development along their inciso-apical axis at any time. Any disturbance or injury of the ameloblasts during enamel formation or maturation may result in permanent defects in the finished enamel since the enamel does not undergo repair or remodeling after formation. In order to increase our understanding of how hypoxia affects enamel formation, we induced severe acute hypoxia in adult mice and observed its effects on the enamel in incisors.

Expression of Clu and Tgfb1 during murine tooth development: effects of in-vivo transfection with anti-miR-214.

Expression of clusterin (Clu) in the murine first molar tooth germ was markedly increased at postnatal developmental stages. The time-course of expression of this gene paralleled those of other genes encoding proteins involved during the secretory phase of odontogenesis, as described previously. Immunohistochemical studies of clusterin in murine molar tooth germs suggested this protein to be located in outer enamel epithelium, regressing enamel organ, secretory ameloblasts, and the dental epithelium connecting the tooth to the oral epithelium at an early eruptive stage.

Expression of delta-like 1 homologue and insulin-like growth factor 2 through epigenetic regulation of the genes during development of mouse molar.

Delta-like 1 homolog (Dlk1) and insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2) are two of six well-studied mouse imprinted gene clusters that are paternally expressed. Their expression is also linked to their maternally expressed non-coding RNAs, encoded by Gene trap locus 2 (Gtl2) and Imprinted maternally expressed transcript (H19), co-located as imprinted gene clusters. Using deoxyoligonucleotide microarrays and real-time RT-PCR analysis we showed Dlk1 and Gtl2 to exhibit a time-course of expression during tooth development that was similar to that of Igf2 and H19.

Effects of in vivo transfection with anti-miR-214 on gene expression in murine molar tooth germ.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of noncoding RNAs that are believed to be important in many biological processes through regulation of gene expression. Little is known of their function in tooth morphogenesis and differentiation. MicroRNA-214 (miR-214), encoded by the polycistronic Dnm30os gene, is highly expressed during development of molar tooth germ and was selected as a target for silencing with anti-miR-214.

Expression of prion gene and presence of prion protein during development of mouse molar tooth germ.

In order to gain insight into possible cellular functions of the prion protein (PrP) during normal development, the expression of Prnp (encoding the PrP) and the distribution of the PrP were studied in murine tooth germs. Expression of Prnp in the mouse first molar tooth germ was highly dynamic, increasing several-fold during the secretory phase of odontogenesis, exhibiting a time-course of expression similar to that of genes coding for other extracellular proteins [e.g.

Gene expression and dental enamel structure in developing mouse incisor.

At the mouse incisor tip the initially differentiated ameloblasts produce a thin, prism-free enamel, while further apically, in the immediate adjacent segment, the enamel thickness increases and the four-layered enamel of mouse incisor is formed. Comparative gene-expression profiling was carried out on RNA isolated from these two segments of incisor tooth germs at embryonic day (E)17.5 and at postnatal days (P)0, 1, 2, and 10 using microarrays to measure messenger RNA (mRNA) and microRNA (miRNA) species present in the segments.